Metamorphed Monster
by Iris Aquarius
Summary: The story of how Medusa was changed from a young girl to the monster that she is famous for.
1. Prolouge

My breath catches in my throat as I reach forward to touch the statue of a boy in front of me. It looks like his skin should be as soft as a cloud, warm to the touch and smooth, but once my fingers touch the round cheek I know that it is as hard as any other stone.

His hair looks freshly washed and curled around his cherubic face, his round face reminded me of Eros in his child's form. The curls looked slightly tussled in the wind that was whispering over my skin as I looked at the statue. I wanted to brush on curl out of his face so that it wouldn't blow into his eyes; but it was immovable and would never change.

His tunic was blowing in the wind too, whipping around his legs as if it was really cloth held captive in a single moment. I tried to think of compliments for the maker who must be very skilled to create such realism, but the lies wouldn't even form in my mind.

I tried not to notice his wide, scared eyes or how he looked on the verge of flight. It was too late for running away. Can't run from the monster now. Still as stone. Forever.

For a monster I now was. Before I could believe that I was just a betrayed victim and the other statues that stand around my home are testimony to the fact that I can protect myself now. They all had come to kill me. Pity is something I can't feel for those hard men, whose bodies now reflect the state of their hearts.

Now though, with this frightened boy statue in front of me. I curse myself to the deepest pits of Tartarus. He was an innocent. Lost and frightened. I saw his brown hair and tanned skin before they melted into the color of cold grey stone. I heard his soft cry of fear when he stumbled upon my resting spot.

He was a boy. Now he is just a cold statue. Never to laugh and play again. Never to feel the cool wind on his skin or the glow of Helios's light. Never to feel the soft embrace of his mother. Never to grow older and find another kind of embrace with a different woman.

Because of me. I had stolen his future. I had stolen his life. His innocent life.

With just a glance with my poisonous green eyes, I had killed him. I had become a monster. The tears came unbidden, slow and silent, as I tried to brush that lock of hair out of his face. If only it would move. If only he would live.

I almost wished that my tears would be acid as the stories say, that they would burn tracks into my skin so that the world could see the suffering inside my soul. However, they are just normal tears. Salty as the sea and cool on my cheeks. Normal tears from what had once been a normal girl.

I hadn't always been a monster. My eyes were brown once, my hair was long and golden. My snakes hiss as if they knew I was thinking about who I was before that night in the temple. They curl around each other and slither over my shoulders, their soft hissing echoes the sadness in my heart. I wasn't always a monster. I was once just a girl, who was born of Titans blood and betrayed by the gods I thought were my friends.

I was once named Medusa. Now the only name I hear is Monster.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The salt air wrapped around me and whipped my tunic around me as I stood on the sea side cliff. I could almost see the wings of Zephyr whirling around me. His cloak was damp from crossing the blue seas in front of me and smelled thickly of salt and life. I could almost hear his laughter as he teased my long curling hair in a golden mane behind me.

"Medusa!" A loud cry made me turn from the West Wind back towards the little cottage where I grew up with my sisters. "Get back here right now!"

The commanding tone instantly made me recognize that it was Sthenno, the eldest out of the three of us, calling my name. Euryale would have come to find me and gotten lost on the way home.

I sighed and said my farewells to Zephyr and turned to make my way back to the cottage we call home. My barefeet made their careful route through the craggy rock cliffs, rough rock that could injury me if I wasn't careful or confident. This was my home though. Like a wild nymph of sea and woods I roamed around my home without fear of anything but man and death.

Out of all my sister, not just Sthenno and Euryale, but all the children of Ceto and Phorcys, I was born mortal. A curse on Ceto when she killed a hero beloved of a goddess. Thanatos, Death, has haunted my dreams since I've come to realize that one day I shall have to follow Hermes to Hades without my sisters. They shall endure forever. I shall turn into a mere shade and nothing of me shall last. Not even my name, for who shall remember a mere mortal grown on the outskirts of civilization with chthonic gods as my companions.

The waves broke steadily down below me, constant and soothing, as if to ease my mind of fears. The sea has always been my lullaby and I took comfort from it like nothing else. Even Euryale's stories didn't calm me like the oceans soft crooning music did. I looked out across the bright blue of the Mediterranean and smiled my love for the endless waters.

"MEDUSA!" Sthenno's calls were getting more impatient and so I left my reveries to continue towards home, complaining about annoying older sisters.

The little house was small but it brought a smile to my lips as I looked at it. So many memories centered in this house by the sea. Before I could even dwell on a single memory my sister's fierce countenance appeared in the doorway.

"Where have you been?" She demanded narrowing her churning blue eyes that always reminded me of the sea in the middle of a storm. "I have been calling for you all day!"

My sister had sharp features of elegant beauty, but when she glared and pursed her lips she looked more like a Harpy then anything else.

"I've been at the cliffs, playing with the wind." I told her truthfully trying to get by her into the house. I had been gone all day and my stomach was clenched in hunger.

"You watch out, Medusa!" Sthenno scolded, "If you keep leading Zephyr on like that he's going to carry you off and marry you before you can blink."

I looked up at my sister wryly, "As if you've never slept with a man or god? You're worse than Eury!" I've heard that in the town, Sthenno was considered a man killer for her way of making the boys of the village fall in love with her and then she drops them as if they mean nothing to her. Given, they don't mean anything to her. She enjoys their play, but her heart is here with me and Euryale.

Sthenno sniffed and turned away looking like a Harpy again, "That's different."

" 'Cause I'm mortal?" I snapped back. Sthenno could be a bit much when she was in dominating mode and my patience was running thin with her unceasing condescension.

She whipped around like I had burned her with the metal spoon I held in my hand to ladle soup into a bowl. In an instant her dark storm eyes were wide and she wrapped me up in her pale arms. "Meddy-baby," She crooned an old pet name into my ear, "I shouldn't be so harsh. It is different but I don't need to rub it into your face. I just want you to marry well and live happy."

"Nonny!" I returned with another pet name, I couldn't help the tears that were welling up in my eyes. "I don't want to go. Why can't we just stay here by the sea? I don't want to go tomorrow."

She crooned comforts into my hair but I knew my tears weren't going to make a difference. My mother had come early in the season and decreed that we would travel to Olympus for the gods blessing before my marriage in the fall. I had to leave my sisters, who I love above all, for a man I'd never met. Ceto, of the old nobility of Titans and goddess of the dangers of the sea, had little sympathy even for her daughters tears.

"What's this I see? Tears? On our last night!" Euryale's merry voice interrupted my sorrow, "Blasphemy!" She crowed her laughter that eerily made me think of a sea gulls rough call.

I turned to my perpetually smiling sister and couldn't help but laugh at her soaked figure. She had clearly been playing in the sea with the Naiads again. Her dark hair was soaked and dripping and her tunic was plastered to her body. She was a sea maiden through and through. We all were. But none looked the part like Eury did. Her hair, dark as the Mediterranean on a moonless night, looked wet no matter how much time she spent away from the water; and her eyes were true ocean eyes. A clear blue green that sparkled like the ocean did when Helios shines his light on it's waves.

"Medusa," She swept forward and grabbed me from Sthenno's comforting embrace and swung me around in a dance, "You're to meet the gods of Olympus tomorrow! Smile that beautiful smile of yours, sun-child. We'll be right there with you!"

"And after I meet the gods," I frowned at her gaiety, "I meet my husband. Whoever he may be."

"Oh my sour little sister," Euryale laughed her wild laugh and embraced me in a tight and soggy hug, "You think to much! Do you really believe that any man who you marry will be able to keep us away? I'll just set our fire-breathing dragon on them."

"I am NOT a dragon," Sthenno frowned from the other side of the cabin and glared her Harpies stare.

"Look in at yourself, Nonny!" Euryale cackled and made me laugh despite my low mood. Sthenno rolled her eyes in an aggravated manner but I could see that she was happy that I was smiling again. These sisters of mine love me. As I love them. That's why the thought of my near future drives me into a childish fit of angst. Who am I without these two?

"Come on!" Euryale grabbed Sthenno and I by the hands and dragged us out of our house, "We're going to spend our last night on the beach!"

I thought Sthenno would refuse but she grabbed by other hand and rushed forward with her wildest sister. I laughed at their excitement and began to run with them. We danced down to the beach as Helios's last light left the sky's realm and burned the ocean with violent red color. It was a beautiful sunset for our last night with our laughter and singing mixing with the oceans constant tempo to make my favorite song.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ceto luxuriously sways out of the water, the waves churning in whirlpools behind her as she wades towards the shore and her three sleeping daughters. Her hips roll as she sensually emerges clear of the salty deep where she makes her home. She was power in it's very essence, seductive and compelling but dangerous just to get close to. Her eyes, that burn as dark as tempests, evaluate her youngest daughters. None of them have her dark stormy beauty, the elder two have only a mockery of her storm soaked locks that hang long and heavy over her pale skin and cling to every curve and bone. The youngest she can barely believe is her own daughter, though she has resemblance to the Hesperides, another three daughters older than these three.

Beautiful she was, no doubt about that. She had a mortal beauty that some of the immortals preferred to the perfection of the immortal. It was a different kind of beauty. Not dark like her mothers. She barely looks the part of a sea-born girl at all; with her deep brown eyes instead of ones that match the Mediterranean that churned behind Ceto as she contemplated this mortal daughter of hers. _Her beauty was in her hair, really._ Ceto mused. The long tangled mane of golden and sunlight that curled around her face and shoulder's in a very appealing manner. It shadowed her face and made her dark eyes even dark so they looked compelling in their own aspect and highlighted the freckles on her face. She didn't have the perfect pale complexion as her immortal sisters, but was all the prettier for it. She drew the eye where they looked like any other seaside goddess or nymph. Especially in comparison to their dark beauty, she glowed like a star in the dark sky. She'd do well visiting Olympus.

_Zeus would adore her,_ Ceto thought to herself with conniving intent. _Then I won't have to find a mortal husband for her. He'll have to deal with her. And who wouldn't want to be consort to the new King of Kings. They are both children of Titans, aren't they? _

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Medusa woke to her mother's deep voice rousing them with disapproving. Even her cold words sounded sensuous in her husky temptress's voice. When I was little I thought it such a wonderful sound. Now it leaves me cold and I don't want to open my eyes to see her dark splendor with those cold, dark eyes.

"You should have been awake when Eos showed her face," She prodded the still sleeping Euryale with her foot. I heard Eury snort and prodded her gently. Better I wake her than mother get's into a tizzy. "You need to make yourselves presentable to the royal court. This is no seaside picnic. Get up!"

Now her voice reverberated with the power of the sea and the three of us rushed to the cabin stifling nervous laughter and avoiding our mother's contemptuous gaze. I knew how'd she look without turning around. We never pleased her. She was a Titan; One of the Old Aristocracy, she always called herself. She used to whisper tales of the Golden Age to us when we were little. Stories of Cronus and Gaea's beautiful children and their dominance. She spoke of Zeus as the Usurper. The Betrayer. Patricide.

It wasn't until the nymphs can to us; tentative and shy but knowing that we were like them. Not mortal. Well, I'm the exception to that. However, raised with my sister's who have eternity before them, it's still to foreign a concept to me to act badly. When you have limited time on Gaea's sweet earth, consequences are short lived. Eternity tends to keep most immortals in-check. No one wants to be chained to a rock with a vulture eating your liver every day. Poor Prometheus.

"Alright, Medusa." Sthenno had her bossy voice on again. It was no use arguing, eventually she'd get her way. "Sit down. You first."

"Really? Don't you want to attack Euryale first?" I whined like a little girl. I know it wasn't the most flattering but I only had a few more hours to be the youngest sister. Once our trip begins, I have to be the adult young lady, Medusa daughter of The Old Man of the Sea, the Titan Phoryces. Kill me now.

The hours passes and we groomed ourselves until we were passable in polite company. My chiton was a lovely sea green with hints of blue in its dye. I thought it lovely when I first saw it; but now it looked like trap. No matter what the color. Sthenno wrapped my waist tight with a girdle of pure gold and bedecked my arms and ankles with the expensive metal too. When I told her it was too much, she gave me a Harpy look that almost made me swallow my tongue. Nothing I said was going to affect how I was to dress today.

Sthenno and Euryale were gorgeous in violet chitons when they were through primping and adjusting each other. I curled up in my favorite chair and watched their good natured bickering and pinching as they playfully dressed up for Court. This was their first time to Olympus as well. Though, surely not their last. This would be my only time. I knew that, but that's not what made me sad. As I watched them I had a vision of myself, gnarled and bent in age surrounded by my beautiful sisters that won't have changed from how they look right now.

"What's the long face, Meddy?" Euryale spun over and promptly sat in my lap.

"Ouff, you've been eating to many honey buns," I laughed as I tried to catch my breath.

"If you ruin her hair, I'll ruin your life." Sthenno sang from across the face as she adjusted the jewelry around her neck.

"Our sister desperately needs some time with Dionysus." Euryale whispered to me, "Maybe he could get her to relax once in a while."

"Plenty of wine tend to make her overactive meddling dissipate." I answered.

"Using big words doesn't mean I can't hear you." Sthenno murmured to her reflection. Which just made Euryale laugh her sea gull cry harder.

"I think we have to face the dragon, now." Euryale sighed.

"For the last time, I AM NOT…." Sthenno turned angrily and then stopped in midsentence before letting out a giggle, "Oh, you meant mother this time."

"What are we going to do with her?" Euryale laughed and leapt to her feet. I swear that sister of mine was in perpetual dance. The Muses are going to love her. Until they hear her sing. "She besmirches the wise reputation that we're starting to get, you know. I think we should disown her."

I couldn't help but laugh at my sister's antics as Sthenno narrowed her eyes and gave Eury her sharpest Harpy look yet. Euryale just danced closer and pecked her sister on the cheek before grabbing my hand and twirling me out the door into the brilliant sun.

Our mother stood ankle deep in the water, with her own gown slowly absorbing the water and making it cling to her long legs. She was looking out at the endless waves knowing that was where she belonged. You could tell from the look of peace momentarily on her face. Once she realized she was being watched, her cunning mask of seduction would grace her again. I grabbed my sister's hand tightly as she turned to evaluate the three of us.

"You took your time," She commented coldly as her stormy eyes inspected us as I've seen the butcher look at an animal being sold to him. "You've done well, though. So, I won't complain. IRIS!"

She invoked the sky with her last word and soon enough a thin rainbow shimmered in the bright noonday soon and slowly arched it's way towards our field. Iris herself skimmed ahead of the colors on light feet and landed before us with a whirl and a laugh.

"Well, Hey there!" She greeted us before bowing impudently to our Mother. If Iris didn't have the protection of Zeus, I don't know what would have happened to the impish immortal. Mother's eyes were dark as a wild storm though so if she continued, even Zeus's word might not protect her.

So I bade farewell to my mother and went to Iris before she could say another word.

"I'm Iris!" She chirped and brushed her fly away brown hair out of her face. She gave the three of us a big dimpled grin and her golden wings that spanned behind her fluttered in the breeze. I couldn't help but like her.

"I'm Medusa," I answered before my sisters could. Which is an oddity, because Euryale's always the one making friends with strangers while it takes longer for people to get to know me.

"Hold on a minute there, sister!" Iris looked at me with wide eyes that I couldn't tell if they were ocean eyes or sky. They were a pale blue green with hints of grey though. Pretty, I thought, though they didn't reflect her ancestry as most do. "You're mortal!"

I couldn't help the blush that I felt grow up my cheeks. "What's that one like? I hardly ever get to bring mortals to Olympus. Mostly just deliver messages and Hera always yells at me for dawdling. And Hermes usually takes all the mortal messages. Unless they're unimportant. Now, we'll have the whole way back to talk about it though!" She gave me that imp grin again and I couldn't help grinning back.

We talked as we climbed into a small cart and she laughed at me and gossiped and chattered the whole way. Her happy chatter and loud laughter, though nothing compared to Eury's, ate the time up until we were pulling into Olympus's gates.

I watched wide-eyed as the Seasons rolled back the clouds and the shinning marble palace of Olympus was exposed. In Helios' glow, the white marble and gold was nearly blinding to my mortal eyes. It was a place of organized lines, spacious courtyards and beautiful architecture. It left me breathless.

"It's something, ain't it." Iris laughed at my face as she steered into the main courtyard and jumped out. "Home sweet home."

My own little cabin with it's one room sprang to mind and made me laugh a little.

Euryale grabbed my hand and whispered in my ear, "I don't care what they say, our ocean and the mountains behind it are just as majestic as this created palace. Our's is just a bit more wild."

When she said it like that, the breath came more easily to my lungs and I could look around without the glazed expression on my face. Those tall parapets were nothing compared to the soaring cliffs that I have roamed since I could walk. I could live through this. With my sisters beside me, I could survive.


End file.
